


Shoot to Kill

by LazyDaizy



Series: Summer Storm Series [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gun Violence, Threats of Violence, Violence, married, relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 07:10:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12053907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyDaizy/pseuds/LazyDaizy
Summary: this is a coda to Summer Storm.....the Summer Storm fic should be read first.





	Shoot to Kill

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Violence

Betty stood in the kitchen making breakfast as the rest of the house stirred. She heard Jughead rustling around upstairs and smiled. He had kept her up late last night and she still felt the delicious ache all over. Even after all these years, their need for each other was insatiable. She stirred the pancake batter as crying suddenly filtered down from upstairs. She kept stirring knowing Jughead would tend to it, as he was the most amazing father she had ever witnessed. He doted on his children and was always eager to tend to any issues that rose. 

“Hi mommy,” Summer said as she wandered into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. 

“Hi sweetie,” Betty said with a warm smile as she bent down to hug her and give her a kiss on the cheek. Summer was 7 and was turning into the most beautiful and sweet little lady. Her heart was as big as her smile and she was helpful and kind and always had something to say that made them laugh. Jughead walked into the kitchen and she straightened and smiled at him and was greeted with a wink. He walked over and leaned in for a soft, warm kiss. 

“Good morning love,” he murmured against her lips. Betty smiled and kissed him again. “This one is grumpy and hungry,” he said pulling away and handing her 2 year old Jesse. He had his father’s dark hair and his mother’s eyes. Betty took him with a laugh and placed wet kisses all over his face.

“What’s wrong little man? We not making food fast enough?” she said, urging a childish laugh from him. “Breakfast will be ready soon, I promise,” she said, handing him back to Jughead. He put him in the highchair and gave him a sippie of milk while he waited. He crouched down beside Summer who had busied herself at the table with a paper and crayons.

“How’s my bug?” he asked, hugging her close and kissing her cheek. 

“I’m good daddy. I’m drawing you a picture. I don’t think the one I made you yesterday was good enough,” she stated and bent over to concentrate on her work. Jughead chuckled and ruffled her hair and stood up. He walked over to Betty and wrapped his arm around her from behind, his hand caressing her belly. 

“And how’s this one?” he whispered in her ear, his hand moving over the slight swell of baby number 3. 

“Probably tired from his or her father’s insatiable poking last night,” she said with a smirk.

“Mmmmmm, I specifically remember him saying it was ok if Daddy had some fun with mommy,” Jughead said, biting her earlobe. 

“Him?” she asked with a laugh.

“Summer told me she wanted a brother again because they are easy to bug so that’s what we’re having according to her,” he said laughing. He kissed her again and she sighed into his mouth. She would never tire of his kiss.

“You going to the city today?” she asked when he pulled away, plating pancakes off the griddle. 

“Yes, Ryan can’t go for me today and I have to make the trip myself,” Jughead explained grabbing plates and bringing them to the table. “I should be back around 6.”

They ate breakfast and went to see him off. Jughead pulled Betty close, still after all this time, hating to be away from her for almost an entire day. The kids were playing on the porch and he took the time to kiss her deeply, pulling on her lip, his tongue sliding between them. Betty wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss eagerly.

“I love you,” he whispered against her mouth, tugging her lip again. 

“Hurry home,” she murmured. “I may let you have some more fun again tonight if you’re good,” she teased.

“Besides the fact that you’re going to give me another beautiful baby, I love how frisky you get when you’re pregnant,” he groaned against her lips. She laughed and kissed him again and then he was off. She watched the truck leave the driveway, her hand over her stomach. This pregnancy came quicker than the first two and she was thinking her body must be working right now because it was such a wonderful surprise, she cried for a week. Jughead was ecstatic. He couldn’t believe he was on his way to giving her the ‘fuck load’ of kids he promised her and he couldn’t think of anything better than a house full of kids that were theirs. 

Betty went to the porch and sat on the swing, relaxing in the warm summer breeze. Life truely was wonderful.

 

It was late afternoon when Betty heard a vehicle pull up. She glanced at the clock and saw it was 4:00 and smiled. Jughead had made it home early. 

“Summer, daddy’s home,” she called into the living room where she was playing with her brother. She went to the door and opened it in greeting and froze. Fear like she had never felt turned her blood to ice and she tried to quickly slam the door. The harsh laugh that rang out made her stomach heave as Paul grabbed the door and kept her from closing it. He shoved it open and she stumbled back. 

“Well, well, what do we have here?” Paul snarled as Summer came running. She skidded to a halt and stared at him confused.

“That’s not daddy,” she said with a frown. Paul sneered and took a step toward her and Betty rushed over and shoved her behind her back. She glanced quickly in the living room and saw Jesse playing quietly on the floor, oblivious to what was happening.

“What are you doing here?” she gasped. “You’re supposed to be in jail!”

“Ahhhh, they let me out,” he laughed, his face twisted with something sinister and Betty felt the fear coil deep inside her. He took a step toward her and she backed up, keeping Summer behind her.

“Jughead will be here soon,” she said, trying to maintain courage. “You better leave now, because I don’t think he’ll just shoot your hand this time.” Betty realized she probably shouldn’t have brought that incident up as Paul’s face twisted with anger. He pulled out a gun and she gasped.

“That his brat you’re hiding?” he asked, waving his gun in her direction. Betty shrank back, shielding Summer. She said nothing, backing up some more and cursing inside as she seemed to hit a wall, Summer caught behind her. Paul looked around and suddenly spotted Jesse.

“Another one?” he asked laughing. “Wow, you guys like a breeding farm or something?” he asked twistedly. “I don’t much like the thought of him fucking my wife on my farm,” he said. 

“This is NOT your farm and I’m certainly NOT your wife!” she said furiously, her anger making her forget her fear for a second. Paul stepped closer and she whimpered as he leaned close, his breath on her face. His hand came up slowly and wrapped around her neck. 

“Mommy?” Summer’s little scared voice reached her and Betty let out sob.

“Please Paul,” she whispered. “You’re scaring my kids.” Jesse had stood up at this point and was staring at them curiously. 

“Shut the fuck up,” he spat. “I’ve just spent a fucking decade in prison because of you and you’re going to pay for it, bitch!” His gun came up and pressed against her head and she closed her eyes, her body shaking. 

“Don’t,” she pleaded. “Please, I’m begging, not in front of my kids.” Paul stepped back and grinned a sick and evil grin.

“I’m not ready to kill you yet,” he leered, his eyes roaming over her and she felt the nausea burn in her stomach. He turned and stepped toward Jesse.

“No,” she cried, stepping between him and her son. “I’ll leave with you. Wherever you want to go, just please, please don’t hurt my children. Please Paul.” Something almost akin to psychotic flickered in his eyes and he dragged the gun down the side of her face and she pressed her lips together, trying hard not to cry. 

“I have just the place we can go,” he sneered and grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the door.

“Wait,” she gasped, pulling away. “Let me say goodbye to them, please,” she cried softly. Whatever sanity was left in him, he nodded quickly and she rushed to Jesse and held him close, crying into his hair. “I love you baby boy,” she whispered. She rushed to Summer and pulled her close. She knew Paul was listening and tried to think of a message she could leave for Jughead. She pulled back and tucked the hair behind her daughters ear and tried to ease the fear she saw in her eyes.

“It’s going to be ok, ok sweetie? Call Grandma and tell her to come for a visit right away, and tell Daddy…..”

“Not a fucking word,” Paul growled, his gun at the back of her head, not caring at all how it might affect her children to see her like this.

“Tell Daddy it’s ok, that I went with the man so you’d be ok and I went because I couldn’t hide in the hayloft,” Betty said quickly. Summer nodded and her tears rolled down her cheeks as Paul dragged Betty from the house. Betty wrapped her arm protectively around her stomach as Paul shoved her into the back seat of vehicle. He was about to pull back out and got a demented look in his face and he cracked the gun across her head and darkness swallowed her up.

 

Jughead pulled into the yard around 6:30 and climbed out of the truck. As he walked up on the porch, Summer rushed out to greet him, looking frantic and terrified. His alarm bells immediately went off. 

“What’s wrong bug?” he asked quickly, noting her tears. “Where’s mommy?”

“She’s gone daddy and she told me to call grandma and she wasn’t answering and I couldn’t call you because it said out of service,” she rushed. 

“I was out at the Boon farm for a while, helping them with something. There was no service. What do you mean mommy’s gone, where is she?” he said, fear beginning to coil inside him.

“She went with a man, he had a gun,” Summer sobbed, throwing herself in his arms. Jughead froze and pulled back.

“A gun? What man? What are you talking about Summer?”

“He was mean daddy, he said mean things and he was saying bad words and he was holding a gun and putting it by mommy’s face.” Jughead started to shake, trying to comprehend what was happening.

“Where is Jesse?”

“He is napping on the floor, he fell asleep.” Jughead rushed into the house and saw she was right, Jesse was sleeping on the living room floor and he was alright.

“Where is mommy?” He yelled, unable to help himself. Summer was sobbing and he kneeled in front of her, wiping her face. “Sweetie, you have to help me out here. Did he have a name? What did he look like?” 

“I don’t know, but mommy told me to tell you it was ok, she was going to go with the man because she couldn’t hide in the hayloft.”

“Hide in the hayloft? What? Why would she…..” Jughead suddenly went still and his heart twisted in fear. She used to hide from Paul in the hayloft.

“Oh Christ,” he gasped, the fear making him want to throw up. He heard sirens wail in the distance and he stepped back from Summer in a daze. He took a moment and then a rage so intense settled in his veins that he was shaking with it. He walked to the back room and ripped his gun case from the closet and unlocked it, pulling the weapon from its place of safety. He came back to the front room just as the sheriff’s car screamed into the yard. Sheriff Scott jumped out of the car as Jughead stepped out onto the porch. 

“He fucking got out?” Jughead yelled furiously, his anger almost knocking the sheriff over. 

“I just got the call an hour ago. I rushed here as soon as I heard. He got out 3 days ago and they didn’t call till today,” Scott explained quickly.

“He’s got her!” Jughead said. “He fucking took her and I have no idea where they could have gone. They could be anywhere!” he shouted. Scott’s eyes widened and he grabbed his radio and called extra help.

“Ok, explain what happened here,” he said. Jughead told him all he knew, pacing back and forth, unable to keep his emotions in check. His eyes were wide with fear and rage and the sheriff sighed.

“Try to remain calm…”

“Remain calm? REMAIN CALM? How the FUCK am I supposed to remain calm!? He pulled a gun on her, in front of my kids and she’s fucking pregnant Scott. If he hurts her, I swear to God it will be the last thing he does. I should have killed the bastard when I had the chance.”

“Can Summer describe what he was driving?” he asked. Jughead went back inside and tucked the gun behind his back and picked her up and hugged her close for a while. 

“Do you know what he was driving sweetheart? Anything at all about the vehicle?”

“It was a Jeep daddy, like the one I helped you fix last week. Except it was blue, not red. The license plate had red letters on top and bottom and blue in the middle.” Jughead hugged her close, thankful he had taught her a lot about different cars and what to take note of if anything ever seemed wrong. He kissed her and sat her on the couch. He tried Katie again on the phone and got through and asked her to hurry over. Walking out, he saw 3 police cars pull in and he walked up to the sheriff. 

“Blue Jeep, California license plate,” Jughead said angrily. 

“We’ll get an APB out right away Jughead. I promise you, we’ll find her.”

Jughead sat on the porch step and lowered his head into his hands. He took deep breaths, trying to calm himself but the fear was so thick, he could taste it. His eyes stung with tears and he wanted to throw up. He couldn’t lose her; not like this. 

 

Betty slowly opened her eyes, the pain in her head feeling like her head might explode. She now knew how Jughead felt whenever he got one of his migranes. He’s had so many knocks to the head, the headaches plagued him at least twice a month. She forced her eyes open and saw that she was in a cabin of some sort. She frowned and looked around, and it seemed familiar somehow. She struggled to sit up and took deep breaths to calm the nausea the threatened to overwhelm her.

Paul sat at a table, watching her and she shrank back against the wall behind her. He hadn’t even bothered to put her on the bed, and she felt sore all over. She again hugged her stomach, praying that her little nugget was ok. 

“What do you want,” she said shakily, pulling her legs up and wrapping her arms around her knees. Paul let out a laugh and sat back in his chair, playing with the gun in his hand. 

“You know, prison can do crazy things to a man,” he began, his voice harsh and angry. “I spent the last 10 years acting nice and playing nice and just waiting for the day I could get out and come back here and fucking kill you. You ruined my life!” he yelled.

“You raped women, Paul! You tried to rape me,” she cried out in agony. “It’s your fault you ended up in jail, not mine!”

“Yeah, well there’s nobody here to stop me today, is there,” he said laughing. Betty felt chilled, terrified because he was right. She prayed that Jughead somehow, by some miracle found her.

“You don’t need to do this Paul. Just let me go and leave. You can hide and nobody will ever find you,” she pleaded.

“You know, when I think back…” Paul began, ignoring her plea. “We had a pretty good life at first. You were the sweet little wife you were supposed to be, we were going to make the farm into a big success.”

“Yeah, well, things changed,” she said quietly.

“You changed. You stopped wanted me,” he said snidely. She looked at him with an angry frown.

“Well, maybe if you want a women to keep wanting you, you shouldn’t hit them and abuse them,” she spat. “It disgusts me that I ever let you anywhere near me.” He snorted at that.

“You liked it in the beginning.”

“I didn’t know any better. You’re fucking awful in bed,” she said before she thought better of it.

“Is that right? What can that pig you’re married to do that I can’t do?” 

“Pretty much everything,” Betty said with a taunting smirk. “Not only does he know what he’s doing when he’s pleasing a woman, but he’s kind and good and gentle and wonderful. He’s an amazing husband and father….” 

“Shut the fuck up! I don’t want to hear your raving reviews about the man you’re whoring for.”

“I’m his wife asshole, not his whore.”

“You were his whore first,” he said with a leer. Betty said nothing and pulled her knees closer. 

“Why are we here?” she whispered after a while. She recognized the place now. It had belonged to his parents and they had sometimes come up here on holidays for a weekend with the family. She was two hours from home. She prayed someone would think of the place.

“You never even cried when I left you, did you?” he asked, again ignoring her.

“No,” she replied honestly. “Even when you left me in piles of debt, I didn’t cry. Anything was better than living with you.” She knew she was making him more angry but she didn’t care. Paul got up and walked over to her, crouching down in front of her, his hand stroking her face. She shrank away and turned her head.

“My sweet little Betty. Always so docile and obedient. Quite the courage you have now,” he said with a smirk and then slapped her. Betty spit at him and was rewarded with a back hand. Her head hit the wall and tears stung her eyes.

“You’re nothing but a useless coward,” she whispered, tears running down her face. Paul wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed until she was gasping and he laughed. 

“Fuck you bitch,” he snarled. Betty lashed out then, her anger burning inside her. Her fist struck his face and her foot caught him in the knee. He fell back, howling in pain and she scrambled to her feet and ran for the door. He caught her ankle and yanked and she fell to the floor, feeling a sharp pain in her wrist. She felt his fist then, across her jaw and blessed darkness started to cover her and her last thoughts were a prayer that he didn’t defile her while she was unconscious.

 

Jughead paced back and forth on the porch, it was nearing morning and not a god damned thing had happened since the night before. He was losing his mind and getting angrier by the minute. He watched the CSU people comb the ground for clues and he marched over to Sheriff Scott, his anger evident in his face.

“What the fuck are they doing?” Jughead barked. “There is nothing to find here! He put her in the vehicle and left! I don’t understand what they are doing. It’s a fucking waste of time!”

“Jughead, let us do our jobs!”

“Nobody is doing their job! She has been gone for 12 fucking hours and you guys haven’t got a fucking clue what you are doing or where she might be!”

“We are combing through leads and we have road blocks and vehicle searches happening. We are doing all we can!!!”

“12 hours!” Jughead roared. “She could be halfway to New York by now!”

“Jughead please,” Scott said, his voice calm and steady. “Please just let us do our jobs.”

Jughead went back to pacing. After a while he went to check on the children and they were resting. Summer had had a hard time falling asleep and had woken twice with a nightmare and Jughead’s heart ached. The fact that that son of a bitch had done this in front of his children infuriated him. He was going to kill him; he was past caring at this point. If he got to Paul before the cops did, he was dead. He wandered to his bedroom and sat on the bed, picking up the tshirt that Betty had slept in the night before, the one he had pulled off in a hurry to touch her and make love to her. He held it to his face and inhaled the faint scent that was all Betty. Tears stung his eyes and he clenched his jaw. Jughead lowered his head into his hands and took a deep shaky breath.

“Please, God,” he whispered, unable to stop the tears from falling. She had saved his life in more ways than one, he couldn’t lose her.

A few hours later he was back to pacing on the porch. Katie had taken the children home and away from all the noise and strangeness and he was left waiting. He was tired, so tired of waiting. He knew the police were checking every lead they got but it wasn’t enough. He thought for a minute and then pulled out his cell phone, and dialed a number. He saw the sheriff watching him and turned away.

“Hello?” came a tired voice on the other line.

“Joan,” he said quietly. “I need your help.”

“Oh Jughead, I’m so sorry, I heard and….”

“We’ll do that later, I need your help right now.”

“Ok,” she said slowly.

“Did you know Betty and Paul when they were married?”

“Yes, we’ve all known each other for years.”

“Is there any place you can think of where he might have taken her? Any place they may have gone back then? Any place his parents may have owned or something….” Joan was silent for a minute as she thought, then she gasped.

“Yes, his parents owned a cabin on Caddy lake. They always went there for holidays but his parents haven’t owned it in years. Last I heard it’s been abandoned and nobody has been near the place in years. It’s about two hours from here and it definitely couldn’t hurt to look.”

“Thank you!” he said quickly as he hurried inside while she gave him the address. He grabbed the keys to the Camaro and raced for the garage as he shoved his phone in his pocket. Sheriff Scott watched and he frowned. 

“Jughead!” he called out but he was ignored and he quickly moved out of the way as the Camaro flew out of the garage, a determined Jughead behind the wheel.

“Someone tell me who he was talking to,” he roared out angrily as he watched him disappear down the highway. Someone suddenly came running waving paper.

“We got something,” he yelled. Scott grabbed the paper and scanned it.

“Paul’s parents owned a cabin about 2 hours from here years ago. A call came in, someone spotted the Jeep in the area last night, heading up a back road.”

“Jesus Christ,” the sheriff yelled running for his car.

“Shall we pull Jughead over?” The deputy yelled, racing for another car.

“You’ll never catch that Camaro, just fucking move!” Minutes later, a line of wailing cars raced down the highway toward Caddy lake.

 

Betty woke slowly. She hurt all over and for a moment she forgot where she was. It all came screaming back and she whimpered, realizing her hands and feet were tied together. Paul was slumped on the table, seemingly asleep but she knew he wasn’t. He had been popping pills all night and he was as wired as anything she’d ever seen. Every time she woke he rambled about their life together and fixing it and she knew he had gone off the deep end and she just lay silently, letting him mutter and rant about how he was going to kill her one minute and then how he would fix his family the next. He was clearly out of his mind and she was terrified. When she wouldn’t agree with his rants he would hit her and she kept praying he would stay away from her abdomen. 

Betty squeezed her eyes shut and thought about her beautiful children. She was hungry and exhausted and all she wanted was to wrap her arms around them and she needed Jughead. Needed him with a desperation that made her weep. His arms, his love, his comfort. He was the love off her life and she desperately wanted to see him, even if just one more time.

Paul sat up suddenly, as if he was confused and then his eyes focused on her. He pulled his chair closer to the bed he had dropped her in and smirked at her. She felt her skin crawl and she tried to keep her anger from her face. He didn’t like it when she got angry and her swollen eye and cut lip and bloody nose was proof of that. He liked her whimpering in fear. 

“You know what kept me going when I was locked up?” Paul started up again. She had heard everything already, his stupid sick delusional plans, and she was getting tired of hearing his bullshit. She refrained from screaming at him, not that she really had the energy anymore. She had started heaving in the middle of the night and he still didn’t realize she was pregnant and she prayed to God he wouldn’t because she had no idea what his sick mind would do.

“What kept you going?” she said quietly.

“The thought of taking you away from that bastard who shot my hand. Well, granted, I had no idea if he would still be around and funny enough he was. Shacking up with my wife.” Betty didn’t bother arguing that she wasn’t his wife anymore, she just let him rant. “Fucking kids with him? You let him breed you?” he snarled. Betty shrank back and realized he was going further into hysterias and didn’t know what to do. She had no idea if he even knew what he was doing. He kept threatening to kill her, to rape her, to take care of her, to marry her again; he was so all over the map, she wondered if he even realized how much time had passed. She knew though, if help didn’t come soon or if she didn’t get away, he would kill her. She knew it deep in her bones and she was terrified.

He rambled on for what seemed like hours and suddenly she heard a vehicle outside. Her eyes went wide and she glanced at Paul. He didn’t seem to notice yet. A car door slammed and she heard frantic yelling.

“Betty!?” Her heart leapt and she sobbed in relief.

“Jughead!” she screamed. Paul jerked up and scrambled to her, yanking her painfully off the bed. He held her in front of him like the coward he was and held the gun to her head. 

Jughead felt his heart stop when he heard her scream his name followed by a cry of pain and he didn’t pause to think things through. He raced up the steps and threw the door open, his gun in hand. He held it up in front of him and stepped in, taking in the sight in one quick look. Fury like he’d never felt raced through him at the sight. Betty looked like she’d been hit by a truck. Her eyes were swollen, her face was bloody and streaked with tears, her clothes were torn and covered in dirt, her hands and feet tied together, being held with a gun to her head in front of the piece of garbage he should have killed years ago. He held her gaze for only a second, seeing both fear and relief in them and he knew his face in that moment was torn with anguish. Then he steeled himself and focused on Paul.

“Let her go,” he said in a furious quiet voice, his gun steady in his hands. Paul laughed and just to infuriate Jughead even more, grabbed Betty’s breast and squeezed painfully. She cried out and Jughead felt himself start to shake.

“Fuck you,” Paul spat, his eyes glazed and barely focusing. “You shoot and she’s dead before your bullet hits me.”

“You’re not leaving this cabin alive,” Jughead said, his voice deceptively calm. “That I can fucking promise you.” Betty felt Paul tremble behind her and she realized he had enough sense to be afraid.

“Jughead,” she said softly, trying to keep her voice calm. Jughead refused to glance at her, knowing if he did, he would lose it. He kept his gun steady, trained on Paul. She knew he didn’t have much of a shot, but she knew he was a good shot.

“Jughead listen to me,” she whispered. The muscle in his jaw twitched, the only move he made. 

“Shut the fuck up,” Paul snarled, pulling on her hair. Betty let him pull and let her head fall to the side, revealing most of his face.

“Remember the can, Jughead,” she said firmly. “You never miss,” she whispered. He shook his head, still looking at Paul. No fucking way was he taking a shot with her in front of him. She tried again.

“You know what the best day of my life was Jughead?” she said softly, tears falling down her face. “It was the day I fell for you…..” She noticed he went still and then he slowly nodded, understanding what she was saying. Betty closed her eyes and let herself go limp and dropped. Paul gasped and it was the last sound he made. A shot rang out and Jughead’s bullet caught him in the forehead. He was dead before he hit the floor.

Betty fell to the floor, unable to hold herself up and Jughead rushed over and pulled her away from Paul. She was sobbing and he quickly cut away the rope and pulled her into his arms. He was shaking and held her so tightly, she could barely breathe. 

“I’m sorry, baby, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his face streaked with his own tears. Betty clung to him and let his arms comfort her. He stood slowly and lifted her in his arms and carried her outside. There was a wooden bench on the porch and he sat down, cradling her in his lap. Stroking her hair while they cried. His hand moved down to her stomach and she lay hers over it. 

“I think it’s ok,” she whispered against his neck. “He never figured it out.” Jughead leaned her back slowly and took in her face. He got so angry he stood and gently set her on the bench. Walking back inside he leaned over, grabbed Paul by the shirt and slammed his fist into his face numerous times before dropping him and delivering a swift kick to his gut. He felt satisfied then and walked back outside and settled her in his lap again. 

“Did he hurt you anywhere else?” he asked quietly, terrified of the answer.

“No,” she whispered. “He kept threatening to but he was going off the deep end with all the pills he was popping and after a while I don’t think he even knew what he was talking about or where he was for that matter. I think my wrist is broken though, I fell on it,” she said with a whimper and he realized she was cradling it against her. Jughead tried to wipe the blood from her face but she winced and he stopped. 

“I’m so sorry,” he said again, his voice hoarse and filled with anguish.

“I prayed you would find me,” she said softly, clutching his shirt. “How did you find me?”

“Joan remembered this place when I called and asked if she had any ideas where he might have taken you,” Jughead explained. He heard sirens wail in the distance and he hugged her close. “I guess they figured it out right after I did,” he muttered.

“I love you Juggie,’ she whispered against his neck, her arms hugging him close. 

“I love you too,” he breathed, holding her tighter. Minutes later a pile of police cars screamed into the yard and the place was swarmed. Sheriff Scott ran up the porch and looked at them, grimacing when he looked at Betty. 

“Where is he?” he asked.

“Inside,” Jughead said flatly, his voice cold. The sheriff disappeared inside and another officer got on his radio.

“We’re going to need an ambulance out here,” he said, giving directions. 

“Are the babies ok?” she whispered, her eyes heavy with exhaustion. 

“Yes, love, they are with Katie. I came home and Summer hadn’t been able to get her on the phone and she told me what happened.”

“Oh, God, they were still alone? Summer told you my message?”

“Yes love, and I understood. I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life. I think I may need therapy,” he said quietly, and she felt him still trembling against her.

“Is she ok?” Betty asked, crying softly again.

“She had a couple nightmares, other than that, I don’t know yet. I just got them to go with Katie this morning and I’ve been searching for you. I’m never leaving you alone again. Ever.”

“He’s gone now, Juggie, he can’t hurt me anymore,” she whispered, her eyes drifting shut. She fell asleep in his arms, the fear slowly melting away from her. The ambulance arrived a while later and Jughead carried her to the stretcher, laying her down gently and then stepped back as the attendants got to work checking her out. Another vehicle showed up for the body and Jughead stood by the car and watched. He was still so angry, he felt like setting it on fire. Sheriff Scott walked up to him and stood silently and watched with him.

“We’re going to need a full statement on what happened here,” he said after a while. Jughead reached behind him and pulled his gun from his jeans and handed it to the man. 

“I’ll be at the hospital,” he said and got into the car and followed the ambulance out of the driveway.

 

Hours later, Betty was settled into a room, fetal monitors attached to her belly. She had been cleaned up and the blood was off her face and Jughead sat, holding her hand, wanting to rewind and kill the bastard all over again. He had never felt such complete satisfaction as he had felt when he saw his bullet hit the man’s forehead. Her eyes were purple and swollen and her face was littered with other bruises. Her lip was fat and there was a cut at the corner of her mouth. The doctor had assured him that the baby was ok but Jughead had insisted on the monitors anyway, at least for a few hours. They had obliged him. She stirred suddenly and her eyes slowly opened, as much as she could open them anyway.

“Hey,” she whispered, trying to smile. She winced and he sat on the edge of her bed and brushed her hair back. “I don’t want the kids to see my face like this,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.

“We’ll wait till tomorrow, but they will want to see you, love. The bruises will hang around for a while and I don’t think you want to wait.” 

“Ok,” she agreed and she shifted slightly so more room appeared beside her. “Can you lay with me?” she asked. He settled down next to her and careful of her monitors, pulled her close. “This is all I longed for when he had me. I wanted to feel your arms one more time,” she whispered.

“You’ll feel them for the rest of your life,” he promised, placing a gently kiss on her mouth. “I love you more than life,” he said tenderly. 

“I love you too….” She whispered as she drifted off to sleep. Jughead closed his eyes and said a prayer of thanksgiving. She was safe, she was in his arms, she was the love of his life.

 

A few days later, Betty was able to go home. There was a cast on her wrist and bruises still littered her face but she was whole. Jughead had no charges laid against him as Betty’s statement showed that killing Paul had been the only option. Nobody cared at all that he was dead. Summer was still afraid and barely left her mother’s side and Jughead decided they would find someone to talk to. Someone for all of them. The internal damage would last longer than the external and Jughead wouldn’t allow them to keep it inside. He woke in a cold sweat every night since the incident and Betty was having nightmares like Summer was. Paul may have failed at taking her life, but he had fucked it up just enough for them to feel the lingering effects. Jughead knew though, that they would make it through. He wouldn’t allow anything to break them. They were strong, they were resilient and they were family.


End file.
